How Stable is Your Organization?

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In geometry, a plane is defined by three points, not one or two. We have one chair at our kitchen table that can’t decide which three of its legs to use, and it wobbles. The game is to move that chair so that someone else has to sit in it for dinner. Tough crowd at home.

How stable is your organization? I’ve noticed successful and stable companies focus on three categories, not one or two. So, what are they?

Existing Product Line Maintenance. How well do you service your existing customer base? We look at competitors, and some are successful, some not so successful. Some have a great reputation, some not so. What makes us think highly of one company over another? I don’t think anyone would argue great customer service is mandatory. Without mastering this, you’ll never get a repeat order.

Pull. Customers are asking you for certain products that will pull your attention and short term direction. Will your customers pull you too far out of your niche? Sometimes it’s best to say “no” to a potential order.

Push. Do you consider and investigate things that your customer base isn’t asking for or don’t even know they want yet? Ten years ago no one had use for a smart phone app. This is the trickiest and easiest category to drop from your radar. Do you have a good idea of where emerging technologies and products fit into your plans? If you are a start-up company then this item might initially overshadow the other two mentioned above, but before long you will have to adjust and bring all three of these categories into balance.

If your organization increases priority of one or two over the other category, your “chair” will tilt to one direction or the other and become less stable. Get too far out of balance and you might even fall off your chair. Don’t misunderstand; we are all working on more than three things. Just make sure however many activities consume your time that their categories balance, and you have stability.